# Singular file system The simplest, most basic partitioning scheme in any Linux operating system consists of 3 partitions: | Type | File System | Description | |----------------------|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | EFI System Partition | vfat | Stores boot loaders and bootable OS images in `.efi` format | | Root File System | ext4, btrfs, XFS, or other | Stores the Linux OS files (kernel, system libraries, applications, user data) | | Swap | Swap partition or file | Stores swapped memory pages from RAM during high memory pressure | This guide assumes the following: * There is only 1 disk that needs partitioning * `/dev/nvme0n1` is the primary disk ## Preparing the disk Determine the disks that are installed on your system. This can easily be done with `fdisk`: ~~~sh fdisk -l ~~~ It outputs a list of disk devices with one or more entries similar to this: ~~~ Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 232.89 GiB, 250059350016 bytes, 488397168 sectors Disk model: Samsung SSD 840 Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disklabel type: gpt Disk identifier: XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX ~~~ The line starting the device file with `/dev/` is the relevant one. Start partitioning the disk with `cfdisk`:

WARNING: Make sure you are modifying the correct device, else you will lose data!

~~~sh cfdisk /dev/nvme0n1 ~~~ If the disk has no partition table yet, `cfdisk` will ask you to specify one. The default partition table format for UEFI systems is `gpt`. Create a layout with at least 3 partitions: | Size | FS Type | |-------------|---------------------| | 1G | EFI System | | (RAM size) | Linux Swap | | (remaining) | Linux root (x86-64) |

NOTE: Specifying the correct file system type allows some software to automatically detect and assign appropriate mount points to partitions. See Discoverable Partitions Specification for more details.

You can verfiy that the partitions have been created by running `fdisk -l` again: ~~~ Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 232.89 GiB, 250059350016 bytes, 488397168 sectors Disk model: Samsung SSD 840 Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disklabel type: gpt Disk identifier: XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX Device Start End Sectors Size Type /dev/nvme0n1p1 2048 2099199 2097152 1G EFI System /dev/nvme0n1p2 2099200 35653631 33554432 16G Linux swap /dev/nvme0n1p3 35653632 488396799 452743168 215.9G Linux root (x86-64) ~~~ This time `fdisk` will also list the partitions present on the disk.

NOTE: You might notice a pattern with how Linux structures its block devices. Partitions also count as "devices" which you can interact with. Each partition has an incrementing counter attached to its name to specify its order in the partition layout.

## Formatting partitions Format the partition with the appropriate `mkfs` subcommand for the file system you want to use, e.g. ext4: ~~~sh mkfs.ext4 /dev/nvme0n1p3 # ext4 root file system mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/nvme0n1p1 # EFI System Partition mkswap /dev/nvme0n1p2 # Swap space ~~~ Next mount the file systems:

ATTENTION: Depending on which file system you chose earlier for your root file system, additional mount parameters might be beneficial or necessary, e.g. btrfs requires specifying the subvolume you want to mount using the option subvol=NAME. Refer to the file system's manual to determine relevant mount parameters.

~~~sh mount /dev/nvme0n1p3 -o noatime /mnt mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 --mkdir /mnt/efi swapon /dev/nvme0n1p2 ~~~